Why we're here

I'm often asked why we moved here to Israel from the good old U.S.A., and I really never quite have an answer, even though I know that it was what we needed to do. Last night, at our synagogue, Rabbi Israel Horowitz gave a drasha (sermon) that perhaps explains it as well as is possible. The drasha was in Hebrew, of course, but every week, just before the drasha is delivered, they pass out written translations into Spanish and English for those who want them. This definitely helps me to follow the Hebrew better. The English used, however, is a little rough, so I edited it a bit, and here it is for you to ponder [with a few of my own clarifying comments enclosed in square brackets like these]:

Drasha on Parashat Va'era

by Israel Horowitz

We find in this parasha [the Torah portion read this week in synagogues around the world] four statements relating to the liberation from Egypt:

1. I brought them out.
2. I saved them.
3. I redeemed them.
4. I took them for Me.

Because of this, in the Pesach Seder we drink four glasses of wine.

If we carefully consider these points, we will see that each has its own importance.

I brought them out: it can be coming out of slavery, out of the suffering, out of the heavy work, or only extracting them from this situation. The blows were finished, the pain was over. A person used to all this feels a mitigation but, in the end, does not understand the situation very well.

I saved them: Some people understand that what is happening to them is not only an exit from the sufferings. They realize the danger they were in, and, now that it is over, they feel that they have been saved from terrible dangers.

I redeemed them: Some people understand that the salvation in the diaspora from the sufferings, from the dangers, is not only a salvation, but it also has something of redemption. They feel that they were not only saved, but also redeemed. The process of redemption brings them to a different status from the one they were in until now, to a higher one.

I took them for Me: Here are those who understand and have faith that the return from the diaspora, the salvation from its dangers, and the soon-to-be redemption are the steps that will bring them near to God, their Creator and Redeemer, to be His elected people. "I took them to be My people."

These four steps toward redemption can be applied not only to the exodus from Egypt but also to our own days.

When the terrible process of the Shoa [the Holocaust] began, and an infinity of sufferings fell upon the Jews of Europe, they thought of going out of the countries of the troubles and went away to countries that were not under the Nazis, and they went out from the sufferings.

They thought that leaving the dangerous places would remove the problems from them. These are the Jews of "I brought them out".

The Jews of "I saved them" thought that it was not enough to leave Germany for nearby countries. It was necessary to move far away, for example to South America [a large number of people in our congregation, probably a majority, are immigrants from South America], to North America, to Australia.

They understood the danger and moved far away to be saved.

These are the Jews of "I saved them".

For the Jews of "I redeemed them" it was clear that the depths of slavery must bring them to the land of redemption, Eretz Yisrael. They were not content with the countries that were sheltering them.

The opposite of the danger of the Shoa was the Redemption. They were not content with "I saved them" nor with "I brought them out". They realized it was not sufficient to escape from the Nazis. The Shoa must lead to the creation of the State of Israel, the Redemption of Israel. "I redeemed them".

Others understand that after the Shoa, after the creation of the State, the people of Israel is forced to be different from how it used to be before these two events.

They understand that what happened to the Jewish people is part of a mystical and eternal process of "I took them for Me".

These four statements are current. And from the exodus from Egypt until our days, the Jewish people split into these four positions.

Shabbat Sahlom!